Velvet Taco finds perfect home in Uptown Dallas taqueria location

Velvet Taco finds perfect home in Uptown Dallas taqueria location

There's a major taco hand-off happening in Uptown Dallas, as one gourmet taqueria leaves to be replaced by another: Dallas taqueria chain Velvet Taco will open a new location at 3411 McKinney Ave. in late summer 2018.

That's currently a location of Urban Taco, which has been at that address for nine years. It will close on March 31, following dinner service.

Founder Markus Pineyro says in a release that his restaurant has outgrown the location, and he chose to not renew the lease.

"We've been discussing moving the Uptown restaurant to a location that is better suited for our clientele," Pineyro says.

Del Sur Restaurant Group, which is Urban Taco's parent organization, intends to use its Mockingbird Station location, which was revamped in 2017, as the platform and model for all future Urban Taco branded restaurants.

"We are very much alive and well at the Mockingbird Station restaurant," Pineyro says. "We look forward to taking the newly designed and branded concept to other areas. Uptown is no longer in our business plan but we know Velvet Taco will do very well there."

"We appreciate the support of the Urban Taco team in this transition and we have already begun plans for the new location on McKinney Avenue," Dover says. "We are excited to continue our strategic growth in Dallas and to provide Uptown patrons with Velvet Taco and look forward to the continued success of Urban Taco at Mockingbird Station and their new planned areas of growth."

Unfortunately for gourmet taco fans along this strip of McKinney Avenue, it's going to be a long, dry summer.

"We want to provide guests the complete Velvet Taco experience and that includes remodeling," Dover says. "We anticipate a late summer to early fall opening."

Velvet Taco is in expansion mode, with the most recent addition being a location coming to the intersection of Preston Road and Forest Lane, with an opening penciled in for July. Velvet Taco opened its first location on Henderson Avenue in 2011.